Ryan Harrison: Can He Become The Next Andy Roddick Of U.S. Tennis?

Lost in the news of Novak Djokovic winning the 2011 Australian Open—and rightfully so—was what happened at the ATP's Honolulu Challenger tournament in Hawaii this past weekend.

There, 18-year-old American Ryan Harrison won the title of his career, 10 years after another player from the U.S. did the same on his way to a Hall of Fame career (that some might say is still going strong).

Back in 2001, Andy Roddick, only 18 at the time, plowed through the field and beat fellow American James Blake in the final. Harrison's route to the '11 title played out similarly, defeating top-100 players Ryan Sweeting and Michael Russell before taking out another fellow countryman, Alex Kuznetsov, in the finals.

It was a great performance from Harrison, particularly after falling in the first round to Frenchman Adrian Mannarinohe as an Australian Open wildcard.

Roddick didn't play in Australia that year, but the Hawaii win jump-started him to his first notable accomplishments:

• Defeating Pete Sampras, who was still a top-five player, for the first time

• Notching a double-digit win streak on clay.

• Advancing to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal

• Beating a reigning No. 1 (Gustavo Kuerten)

• Helping the U.S. advance to the World Group in Davis Cup

Now, just because Harrison won Hawaii 10 years after Roddick doesn't mean that he will pull off anything close to the older American's feats. But there has to be a sense of optimism surrounding Harrison, which started with the impressive form he displayed at the 2010 U.S. Open.

For his part, Roddick has embraced being in the mentor-role for the young American.

The Louisiana-native beat former top-three player Ivan Ljubicic handily after going through the qualifying rounds, then fell in a fifth-set tiebreaker to the dangerous Sergiy Stakhovsky.

And while he failed to sustain the momentum from that mini-run over his next few tournaments, Harrison did win the USTA wild-card event for direct entry into the Australian Open.

The Challenger title he won last week may still be a far cry from an ATP 250 title, much less a Grand Slam, but there is still good reason to give credit where credit is due. Harrison is the youngest American to win a stop on the tour right under the big leagues since Donald Young brought home the hardware in Aptos, Calif., in 2007.

The ATP indoor tournament stretch in the U.S. kicks off next week, and Harrison could be in a good rankings spot after it's all said and done, as the conditions will suit his game to a tee.

He has a very solid two-handed backhand and good hands around the net. Harrison also possesses a big serve and a huge forehand.

Does that sound like someone else you know?

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